


The Other Traitor

by ATMachine (orphan_account)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 00:43:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11771910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/ATMachine
Summary: Lord Voldemort gets an unexpected offer.





	The Other Traitor

She brewed the Polyjuice in secret, in the middle of the night when the rest of her family had gone to bed. It took months, months she was not sure she had, but it seemed the surest way of carrying out her plan.

The last ingredient, the one that completed the potion: a single hair shed from Sirius Black’s shaggy mane.

Severus Snape was her intermediary. He spun the story for Voldemort, told him a tale of a traitor within the Order of the Phoenix: someone who had vital information on the whereabouts of three of the Order’s most senior members, and wished to sell it – for a price.

Voldemort laughed, hearing it told. It chilled the Death Eaters who stood by him, even those, like Bellatrix and Lucius, who had served at his side for years now.

And thus it was that she came to the Dark Lord’s sanctum, to stand before Lord Voldemort, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, who had thrice tried to kill her, and thrice failed.

 

“You presume to bargain with a Dark Lord? Very amusing, mongrel. But why should I pay your price when I have other traitors, all too willing to give me whatever I ask in return for sparing their worthless lives?”

Shivers went down her spine too, then, and she wondered if her plan was not, after all, a piece of sheer lunacy that would’ve been better discarded.

“Because, my Lord,” she said in her borrowed voice, “none of those traitors are trusted enough by the Order’s high command to learn what I am offering to tell you. When was the last time your Death Eaters managed to surprise and capture one of the Order unawares?”

It was true; the Order’s members had largely stopped all appearances in public. Except for the occasional sudden raid on one of Voldemort’s lesser bases, they moved from safe house to safe house, not emerging into public for fear of attack or assassination.

Lucius spoke. “That is irrelevant. Why should we bother listening to your proposal, blood traitor?”

“Hush, Lucius.” Voldemort held up a hand. “I am intrigued. What is the nature of your offer?”

“I offer you the locations and the lives of three of Albus Dumbledore’s top lieutenants: Gideon Prewett, Fabian Prewett, and Abner Thomas.”

“Indeed?” said the Dark Lord in his high-pitched, sibilant voice. “Those are three of Dumbledore’s most dangerous men. Their loss would be a substantial one to the Order of the Phoenix.

“And what, then, does a blood traitor request in recompense for this gift? Do you wish to confess the error of your ways, and join our cause, perhaps? Or is there something more substantial, more… pecuniary you had in mind?”

“My Lord, if I may: I want you to grant me the right to determine the fate of one of Dumbledore’s associates. One life, that I may play with as I choose, to demonstrate how we pure-bloods are rightfully the lords and masters of all Mudbloods and Muggles.”

“One life for three? That is all you seek?”

“It is. But I want safe passage back to the Order, so none suspect what I have told you… and I want you to swear to this compact on an Unbreakable Vow.”

The entire room tensed. Lucius and Bellatrix’s hands moved to rest on their wands. Voldemort stood up from his throne.

“Do you know what you ask? You dare entangle me, the rightful Lord of wizarding Britain, in a compact that could redound on me to seek my death? Tell me why I should not rip the knowledge from your mind, right here and now, and leave you a brainless husk for my Death Eaters to toy with.”

“I know it, my Lord. But your greatness is such that I know you could never die, and I am certain that you would reward a faithful servant according to his due.”

Silence hung in the air. Voldemort scratched his chin with one long, white finger, considering.

“Very well. It shall be done. I will enter into this compact, so my followers may see that I reward those who serve me well… and that I, Lord Voldemort, am mightier than Death, and have no need to fear it.

“Severus, the boy is your protégé. Step forward, and act as witness to the Vow.”

 

When she returned home, she had less than five minutes to spare before the Polyjuice wore off. She hastily changed out of her borrowed male robes, back into her familiar Muggle attire.

She went up the stairs to the second bedroom, opened the door and looked in.

Harry was, quite unusually, sleeping soundly.

The cat brushed against her legs as Lily Potter walked to her own bedroom and lay down next to James, who stirred and rolled over as she got into bed.

In the next week, three senior members of the Order of the Phoenix were killed.

And that Halloween, Lord Voldemort, the terror of wizarding Britain, died his first death.


End file.
